August 25, 2005
Late Tuesday afternoon, after contract bargaining had concluded for the day at Guild headquarters, union and company negotiators were able to complete an agreement that will put to rest the dispute over the amount of Guild-covered analytical work that had routinely been assigned to Investment Officers.
The agreement, expected to be signed today, clarifies how much Guild work the exempt I/Os (soon to be called Associate Directors) will be allowed to perform, acknowledges that the work in dispute will not leave union jurisdiction (because of an agreement within the settlement that allows I/Os to do up to 33 1/3 percent of Guild work), and puts in place a bonus program for Guild-represented Analysts that could possibly earn union staffers up to an extra 20 percent of their base salary every year. The bonus system will use a combination of the employees’ performance reviews and their “STARS” picks to determine the amount of any bonus they earn. The agreement also includes a commitment on the part of the company to hire a total of seven additional Guild-represented Analysts in the Equity Research Department before the end of March, 2006. Full details of the new agreement will be explained soon, at a meeting among Guild Analysts, Equity Research managers, and Guild officials.
Upon completion of the Tuesday’s work, Unit Chairperson Ed Fannon acknowledged the efforts of his colleagues, most of all, the Guild Analysts who he said had helped to make this agreement possible. “The job of Equity Analyst is among the most demanding of all our career positions at S&P,” said Fannon. “The criteria and amount of information that goes into their judgment calls is astonishing. I'm extremely happy that we were finally able to get them just compensation by getting them into the bonus pool.”
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8/25/05